Facilitating signaling and transmission protocols for enhanced beam management for initial access

ABSTRACT

Enhanced beam management for a wireless communication system is provided. In one example, a method comprises: receiving, from a mobile device, a message indicating first beam information for a selected first beam of beams associated with the base station device, wherein the message is a first received message of a random access channel procedure; and receiving, from the mobile device, message indicating second beam information for a selected second beam of the beams associated with the base station device, wherein the selected second beam is an alternative to the selected first beam for transmission of downlink data to the mobile device from the base station device, and wherein the second beam is indicated in the first message of a two-step random access channel procedure. Methods of signaling the second beam and/or transmission diversity approaches employing the first beam and/or the second beam are described.

RELATED APPLICATION

The subject patent application is a continuation of, and claims priorityto each of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/925,822, filed Mar. 20,2018, and entitled “FACILITATING SIGNALING AND TRANSMISSION PROTOCOLSFOR ENHANCED BEAM MANAGEMENT FOR INITIAL ACCESS,” which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/587,223 (now U.S.Pat. No. 9,949,298), filed May 4, 2017, and entitled “FACILITATINGSIGNALING AND TRANSMISSION PROTOCOLS FOR ENHANCED BEAM MANAGEMENT FORINITIAL ACCESS,” the entireties of which applications are herebyincorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates generally to communications systems, and,for example, to systems, methods and/or machine-readable storage mediafor facilitating signaling and transmission protocols associated withenhanced beam management for initial access in a wireless communicationsystem.

BACKGROUND

To meet the huge demand for data centric applications, Third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) systems and systems that employ one or moreaspects of the specifications of the Fourth Generation (4G) standard forwireless communications will be extended to a Fifth Generation (5G)standard for wireless communications. Unique challenges exist to providelevels of service associated with forthcoming 5G standards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example, non-limiting message sequence flow chartto facilitate a first type of signaling and transmission protocolassociated with enhanced beam management for initial access in awireless communication system in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example, non-limiting message sequence flow chartto facilitate a second type of signaling and transmission protocolassociated with enhanced beam management for initial access in awireless communication system in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example, non-limiting block diagram of a controldevice facilitating signaling and transmission protocols associated withenhanced beam management can be facilitated in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example, non-limiting block diagram of a mobiledevice for which signaling and transmission protocols associated withenhanced beam management can be facilitated in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 illustrate flowcharts of methods facilitatingsignaling and transmission protocols associated with enhanced beammanagement in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a computer that can be employedin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various embodiments. It is evident,however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without thesespecific details (and without applying to any particular networkedenvironment or standard).

As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms “component,”“system” and the like are intended to refer to, or comprise, acomputer-related entity or an entity related to an operational apparatuswith one or more specific functionalities, wherein the entity can beeither hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, orsoftware in execution. As an example, a component may be, but is notlimited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, computer-executableinstructions, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration andnot limitation, both an application running on a server and the servercan be a component.

One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. In addition, these componentscan execute from various computer readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components may communicate via localand/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having oneor more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting withanother component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across anetwork such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). Asanother example, a component can be an apparatus with specificfunctionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric orelectronic circuitry, which is operated by a software application orfirmware application executed by a processor, wherein the processor canbe internal or external to the apparatus and executes at least a part ofthe software or firmware application. As yet another example, acomponent can be an apparatus that provides specific functionalitythrough electronic components without mechanical parts, the electroniccomponents can comprise a processor therein to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components. While various components have been illustrated asseparate components, it will be appreciated that multiple components canbe implemented as a single component, or a single component can beimplemented as multiple components, without departing from exampleembodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable (or machine-readable) device or computer-readable (ormachine-readable) storage/communications media. For example, computerreadable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to, magneticstorage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips), opticaldisks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), smartcards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive). Ofcourse, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications canbe made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spiritof the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “mobile device equipment,” “mobile station,”“mobile,” subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,”“communication device,” “mobile device” (and/or terms representingsimilar terminology) can refer to a wireless device utilized by asubscriber or mobile device of a wireless communication service toreceive or convey data, control, voice, video, sound, gaming orsubstantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. The foregoing termsare utilized interchangeably herein and with reference to the relateddrawings. Likewise, the terms “access point (AP),” “Base Station (BS),”BS transceiver, BS device, cell site, cell site device, “Node B (NB),”“evolved Node B (eNode B),” “home Node B (HNB),” “gNB” and the like, areutilized interchangeably in the application, and refer to a wirelessnetwork component or appliance that transmits and/or receives data,control, voice, video, sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream orsignaling-stream from one or more subscriber stations. Data andsignaling streams can be packetized or frame-based flows.

Furthermore, the terms “device,” “communication device,” “mobiledevice,” “subscriber,” “customer entity,” “consumer,” “customer entity,”“entity” and the like are employed interchangeably throughout, unlesscontext warrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based on complex mathematical formalisms), which canprovide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

Embodiments described herein can be exploited in substantially anywireless communication technology, comprising, but not limited to,wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), global system for mobile communications(GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), enhanced general packetradio service (enhanced GPRS), third generation partnership project(3GPP) long term evolution (LTE), third generation partnership project 2(3GPP2) ultra mobile broadband (UMB), high speed packet access (HSPA),Z-Wave, Zigbee and other 802.XX wireless technologies and/or legacytelecommunication technologies.

To meet the huge demand for data centric applications, currently 3GPP islooking towards extending the current 4G standards to 5G. However, thereare numerous challenges and/or issues that are expected to arise. Asused herein, “5G” can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) access. Oneor more aspects of a 5G network can comprise, but is not limited to,data rates of several tens of megabits per second (Mbps) supported fortens of thousands of users; at least one gigabit per second (Gbps) to beoffered simultaneously to tens of users (e.g., tens of workers on thesame office floor); several hundreds of thousands of simultaneousconnections supported for massive sensor deployments; spectralefficiency significantly enhanced compared to 4G; improvement incoverage relative to 4G; signaling efficiency enhanced compared to 4G;and/or latency significantly reduced compared to LTE. Typically, thefollowing information can be transmitted based on the downlink controlinformation (DCI) format: Localized/Distributed virtual resource block(VRB) assignment flag, resource block assignment, modulation and codingprotocol, HARQ process number, new data indicator, redundancy version,transmit power control (TPC) command for uplink control channel,downlink (DL) assignment index, precoding matrix index and/or number oflayers.

Systems, methods and/or machine-readable storage media for facilitatingsignaling and transmission protocols associated with enhanced beammanagement in a wireless communication system are provided herein. Inone embodiment, a method comprises: receiving, by a base station devicecomprising a processor from a mobile device, a message indicating firstbeam information for a selected first beam of beams associated with thebase station device and indicating second beam information for aselected second beam of the beams associated with the base stationdevice, wherein the selected second beam is an alternative to theselected first beam for transmission of downlink data to the mobiledevice from the base station device, wherein receiving the messagecomprises receiving the message as a first message of a multi-steprandom access channel procedure, wherein the first message comprises arandom access preamble and further comprises a device identificationmessage; and in response to the receiving the beam information,facilitating transmitting, by the base station device to the mobiledevice, a random access channel response as a second message of the twostep random access channel procedure.

In another embodiment, a base station device is provided. The basestation device comprises: a processor; and a memory that storesexecutable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitateperformance of operations, comprising: receiving, from a mobile device,a message indicating first beam information for a selected first beam ofbeams associated with the base station device, wherein the message is afirst received message of a random access channel procedure; andreceiving, from the mobile device, a second message indicating secondbeam information for a selected second beam of the beams associated withthe base station device, wherein the selected second beam is analternative to the selected first beam for transmission of downlink datato the mobile device from the base station device, and wherein thesecond message is another transmitted message of the random accesschannel procedure.

In yet another embodiment, a machine-readable storage medium isprovided. The machine-readable storage medium can comprise executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile device,facilitate performance of operations, comprising: facilitatingtransmitting a message indicating first beam information for a selectedfirst beam of beams associated with a base station device, wherein themessage is a message of a random access channel procedure; andfacilitating transmitting a second message indicating second beaminformation for a selected second beam of the beams associated with thebase station device, wherein the selected second beam is an alternativeto the selected first beam for transmission of downlink data to themobile device from the base station device, and wherein the secondmessage is another transmitted message of the random access channelprocedure.

As will be noted herein, the “second beam information” is not limited tobeing information associated with a single beam. Rather, in someembodiments, the term “second beam information” and “selected secondbeam” can mean or include multiple second beams (e.g., multiplealternative beams”).

In some embodiments, the mobile device can report alternative DL Txbeams during a 4-step random access channel (RACH) procedure in message3. These alternative beams can subsequently be used in message 4 of theRACH procedure, in addition to subsequent beam management procedure forconnected mode mobile devices. In one or more embodiments, signaling canalso be specified to indicate the availability of the one or morealternative DL Tx beams, as well as the transmission protocols that canbe used in message 4 and subsequent transmissions to transmit on theidentified alternative DL Tx beam in message 3. In some embodiments, amethod of indicating one or more alternative DL Tx beams in a 2-stepRACH procedure for 5G is also provided.

One or more embodiments can facilitate providing a reliable coarse beammanagement and/or can be employed for control channel beam managementand beam switching. One or more embodiments can provide associatedsignaling for 4-step RACH procedure and/or 2-step RACH procedure thatindicate alternative transmit beams in the PRACH procedure. Thesignaling can indicate the presence of alternative beam indication in adefined message of the RACH procedure. One or more embodiments can alsoprovide transmission diversity protocols that can be used to make use ofthe different potential transmit beams for transmission to the mobiledevice.

One or more embodiments can allow a more reliable beam managementprocedure through a robust signaling and detection of the alternativebeams measured, and/or allow for a more robust beam management procedureby making use of diversity in the downlink transmit beams. In someembodiments, such increased reliability in control channel beammanagement is not only applicable for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)but also for applications requiring high reliability. One or moreembodiments can be applicable to help the BS devices and/or network todecide on the downlink transmit beam to use, such that the mobile devicehas better visibility of the measured beams and can report back to theBS device or network so that the BS device or network can decide onwhich beam to use for downlink transmission. As used herein, in variousembodiments, the term “downlink transmission beam” can be or mean“downlink transmit beam” (“DL Tx beam”).

FIG. 1 illustrates an example, non-limiting message sequence flow chartto facilitate a first type of signaling and transmission protocolassociated with enhanced beam management for initial access in awireless communication system (e.g., system 100) in accordance with oneor more embodiments described herein. The first type of signaling andtransmission protocol can be for a 4-step random access channel (RACH)procedure. In some embodiments, FIG. 1 shows a typical message sequenceflow chart for a 4-step random access channel (RACH) procedure in one ormore different types of cellular or other wireless networks.

In some embodiments, the system 100 can facilitate indication of aprimary or an alternative beam (or, in some embodiments, multiple beams)in random RACH resources for beam management. One or more embodiments ofthe system 100 described herein can provide signaling and/ortransmission protocols to facilitate enhanced initial beam managementprocedure by indicating one or more alternative DL transmission beamsfrom the BS device 102 to the mobile device 104 during the RACHprocedure. In some embodiments, the beam management can be a mobiledevice 104 assisted beam indication at the mobile device during the RACHprocedure.

While the system 100 shows a single BS device 102 and a single mobiledevice 104, in various embodiments, multiple BS devices and/or multiplemobile devices can be included in system 100. All such embodiments areenvisaged.

With reference to FIG. 1, one or more of reference signals and/or pilotsignals can be transmitted within the system 100. The reference signalsand/or the pilot signals can be beamformed or non-beamformed. In FIG. 1,shown is a typical message sequence chart for random access procedure inwireless communication systems. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication system can be a 5G system, although such is not required.As used herein, the term “random access” can mean the procedure for themobile device 104 to request a connection setup from the BS device 102.Random access can be employed for initial access to the BS device 102 bythe mobile device 104 in some embodiments. For example, random accesscan be employed to facilitate the mobile device 104 moving from radioresource control (RRC)_idle state to RRC_connected state. In someembodiments, the random access can be employed to re-establish aconnection between the mobile device 104 and one or more BS devices(e.g., BS device 102) after failure of a link (e.g., communicationchannel between the mobile device 104 and a BS device), for handover ofthe mobile device 104, etc. Beam management is a procedure used toacquire and maintain a set of transmitter/receiver point (TRP) beamsthat can be used for DL transmission, which can include, but is notlimited to, beam determination, measurement, and/or reporting. For idlemode mobile devices in initial/random access, beam measurement and/orreporting can be performed using Synchronization Signal (SS) blocks. DLmeasurements by the mobile device 104 can be supported on both singlebeam and multi-beam based operations. SS-block-RSRP can be used tomeasure the beam quality per SS block. The selected beam at the mobiledevice 104, based on the SS-block-RSRP, can be derived at the BS device102 from the physical RACH (PRACH) preamble/resource for use as a DL Txbeam in message 2. This implicit beam measurement and reporting in therandom access procedure can be made more robust by explicitly reportingone or more alternative DL Tx beams during the RACH procedure, inmessage 3. These alternative beams can subsequently be used in message 4of the RACH procedure, in addition to subsequent beam managementprocedure for connected mode mobile devices.

Referring to FIG. 1, as shown, in step 1, the mobile device 104 cantransmit a first message to the BS device. The first message can includea random access preamble for the BS device 102 and/or network toestimate the mobile device 104 timing and/or establish uplinksynchronization. In the message 2, the BS device 102 and/or network canthen transmit a random access response. The random access response caninclude, but is not limited to, a timing advance command to adjust themobile device 104 transmit timing. In some embodiments, the BS device102 and/or network can assign uplink resources for the mobile device 104to use for the device identification message shown in step 3.

When the mobile device 104 tries to connect to a BS device (e.g., BSdevice 102) and/or a network in general, there are uplink (UL) beamsthat are used for reception from the mobile device 104 to the BS device102 and there are DL beams that are used for transmission to the mobiledevice from the BS device 102 based on the mobile device 104 and the BSdevice 102 performing a synchronization procedure. Accordingly, themobile device 104 can detect a number of DL beams and can select fromany number of different DL beams for one or more beams on which toreceive DL transmission. In some embodiments, the mobile device 104 canselect at least one beam and an alternative beam. The beams selected canbe DL beams that have the best signal strength or power received at themobile device 104 and/or that have a signal strength or power receivedat the mobile device 104 that at least exceeds or is substantially equalto a defined threshold. This selection of the alternative beams can beindicated in message 3 of the system 100.

For example, in message 3, the mobile device 104 can employ the uplinkphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to transmit the identity of themobile device 104, among other information, to the BS device 102 and/orto the network. For example, the identity can be transmitted in a deviceidentity message and/or any resource of the message 3.

As such, in some embodiments, the content of message 3 can depend on thestate of the mobile device 104. In some embodiments, the mobile device104 can measure and/or report one or more alternative beams in message 3of the RACH procedure and the BS device 102 and/or network can switchbetween the first beam indicated by the mobile device 104 and the one ormore alternative beams indicated by the mobile device 104. In someembodiments, the BS device 102 can select multiple beams indicated bythe mobile device 104 (in lieu of switching between the different beams)for concurrent transmission, for example. In particular, in someembodiments, the mobile device 104 measures the received power wheneversynchronization signal (SS) blocks (which include the beams) arereceived by the mobile device 104. The SS blocks are sent periodicallyby the network and are not sent on demand.

It is to be noted that the selection of the beams by the mobile device104 is not necessarily done in the RACH procedure. Rather, the reportingfrom the mobile device 104 to the base station device 102 can beperformed during the RACH procedure. With reference to FIG. 1, thereporting of the initial/first beam by the mobile device 104 can beperformed during step 1 of the RACH procedure, but implicitly (e.g., theBS device 102 can infer the information about the initial/first beamselected by the mobile device 104 from the resources used to transmitthe message 1 of the RACH procedure described and shown in FIG. 1).

By contrast, again with reference to FIG. 1, the reporting of the secondbeam information by the mobile device 104 can be performed in step 3 ofthe RACH procedure and is done explicitly in the sense that informationabout this beam is sent in the payload of the message 3 in step 3 ofFIG. 1.

In embodiments in which switching between beams is employed by the BSdevice 102, control channel beam switching, performed and/or initiatedby the BS device 102, can be provided if it is determined that the firstbeam has unacceptable signal strength and/or received power at themobile device 104. In some embodiments, the mobile device 104 can detectthe received power and/or signal strength and transmit information tothe BS device 102 notifying the BS device 102 and/or requesting a changeto another (or the alternative) beam. In some embodiments, the BS device102 can employ other methods to determine the signal strength and/orreceived power of the beam at the mobile device 104.

Accordingly, in one or more embodiments, the selection by the mobiledevice 104 can be beam-based as opposed to cell-based. In beam-basedapproaches there can be greater directionality and correspondingbenefits of the same since there can be multiple smaller beams than forthe case of the 3-sector cell-based approach, and the mobile device 104can select a smaller beam within a particular cell sector, for exampleas there can be multiple beams being transmitted from a single cellsector of a BS device (e.g., BS device 102).

In some embodiments, in message 4, the BS device 102 and/or network cantransmit a contention resolution message on the DL physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) if there is a contention due to multiple mobiledevices trying to access the BS device 102 and/or network. As usedherein, contention resolution message is a message that can specifywhich of multiple mobile devices can access a channel at any particulartime. For example, in cases in which more than one mobile device isattempting to access the channel, the contention resolution message canspecify which mobile device should access the channel first and/orgenerally transmit information indicating selection of one mobile devicefor initial access of the channel. After contention resolution, asshown, the user data associated with the mobile device 104 can betransmitted and/or received.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, all four messages can be transmittedon the same DL beam that the mobile device 104 selected. However, in oneor more embodiments described herein, the mobile device 104 can transmitto the network or BS device 102, information (e.g., a report) indicatingan alternative beam at the mobile device 104. The alternative beam canbe a beam that also has a defined signal strength level (e.g.,acceptable or good signal strength as received at the mobile device104). The mobile device 104 can transmit information identifying the oneor more alternative beams in the message 3 device identificationmessage.

In one or more embodiments, the (coarse) beam management procedure canbe enhanced by indicating/reporting alternative DL transmission beams inthe RACH procedure. In particular, the mobile device 104 can measure oneor more beams and report, in message 3 resources of the RACH procedure,the alternative beams selected such that the BS device 102 and/or thenetwork can use one or more of the indicated alternative beams forcontrol channel beam switching.

A RACH procedure can be supported for both radio resource control(RRC)-idle (idle) and RRC-connected (connected) mobile devices (e.g.,mobile device 104). At least for a mobile device in idle mode, themobile device (e.g., mobile device 104) can select the subset of RACHpreamble indices based on DL signal measurement and associationindicated by the system information (SI). In one or more embodiments, atleast for mobile devices in idle mode, current initial access beammanagement solutions for 5G support obtaining the downlink (DL)transmit/transmission (Tx) beam for message 2 based on the detected RACHpreamble/resource at the BS device 102, and the association configuredby the BS device 102 between the DL channel, and a subset of RACHresources and/or subset of preamble indices. Indicating additional DL Txbeams in message 3 of the 4-step RACH procedure described with referenceto FIG. 1 can increase the robustness of the initial access beammanagement as well as (subsequently) improve the beam managementframework of the connected mobile devices. In some embodiments, the oneor more alternative DL Tx beams can be determined at the mobile device104 through measurements of the synchronization signal (SS) blockReference Signal Received Power (RSRP) (“SS-block-RSRP”), and indicatedin message 3 payload to the BS device 104.

One or more embodiments described herein can detail signaling toindicate and/or successfully decode the alternative beam and/or one ormore transmission protocols that can make use of the reportedalternative beam. In some embodiments, the signaling can command themobile device to indicate the additional DL Tx beams in message 3. Thetransmission protocols can make use of the newly indicated alternativebeams in message 4 and subsequent connected mobile device beamtransmissions. The signaling and/or transmission protocols can beemployed for either the 4-step RACH procedure described above withreference to FIG. 1 or the 2-step RACH procedure that will be describedbelow with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example, non-limiting message sequence flow chartto facilitate a type of signaling and transmission protocol associatedwith enhanced beam management for initial access in a wirelesscommunication system in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. The signaling and transmission protocol can be tofacilitate a 2-step RACH procedure. Repetitive description of likeelements employed in other embodiments described herein is omitted forsake of brevity.

System 200 can indicate one or more alternative DL TX beams in a 2-stepRACH procedure. In addition to the baseline 4-step RACH procedure, asimplified RACH procedure can be defined whereas the four steps arereplaced with two steps. The main motivation of the simplified RACHprocedure is to reduce the overhead and delay, when a small packet istransmitted. This may also be beneficial in an unlicensed scenario, oran LTE-assisted random access procedure.

In the embodiment for the 2-step RACH indication of one or morealternative DL TX means, the transmission contents are combined into twosteps instead of four steps. For example, message 1 in the 2-step RACHprocedure can include the contents of messages 1 and 3 of the 4-stepRACH procedure, where the preamble can be sent followed by the messagepart that contains the device identity in addition to other mobiledevice messages. For the 2-step RACH procedure, the alternative DL Txbeam can be indicated in message 1 by the mobile device 104, along withthe original downlink Tx beam indicated through the preamble/resource(as opposed to indicating the alternative DL TX beam in message 3 of the4-step RACH procedure).

The message 2 in step 2 of the 2-step RACH procedure can include thecontent of the combination of message 2 and message 4 of the 4-step RACHprocedure, where message 2 carries timing advance, UL grant andcontention resolution information.

Measuring for the BS device 104 transmit beams that can be used for RACHand subsequent transmissions, can be based on SS-block-RSRP, similar tothe 4-step RACH procedure. Measurements can also be based on CSI-RSresources whereas the mobile station device chooses the Tx beams thatresult in the best CSI-RS-RSRP and reports on those beams to the gNB inmessage 2 of the 2-step RACH procedure. The resources may be configuredfor the UE from a set of resources for the purpose of beam selection,mobility, and/or recovery procedures.

For the simplified 2-step RACH procedure, in some embodiments, thesignaling for the mobile device 104 to report an alternative downlinktransmit beam in message 1 can have a dedicated signaling to the mobiledevice 104 that is performing the RACH procedure, rather than broadcastsystem information. Thus, the dedicating signaling mode described belowcan be applied for the 2-step RACH procedure. The RACH configuration andassociated resources can be independent from the configuration and/orresources indicated for the 4-step RACH procedure.

After successfully decoding the indication of the alternative downlinkbeams, in the 2-step RACH procedure, the BS device 102 and/or networkcan make use of available transmit beams in various diversity protocolsin message 2 of the 2-step RACH procedure, as well as subsequent beammanagement, as detailed herein.

One or more embodiments of signaling and/or transmission diversity canbe as described below with reference to FIGS. 3-9. The signaling can beused to command the mobile device to indicate the alternative DL Tx beamwhile the transmission protocols can be used to transmit on theidentified alternative DL Tx beam in message 3 of the 4-step RACHprocedure (or message 1 of the 2-step RACH procedure). Accordingly, toindicate the alternative beam in message 3 of the 4-step RACH procedure(or message 1 of the 2-step RACH procedure), one or more embodiments candescribe how to perform signaling to command to the mobile device toindicate one or more alternative beams and how to use the one or morealternative beams in message 4 of the 4-step RACH procedure (or how touse the one or more alternative beams in message 2 of the 2-step RACHprocedure). Accordingly, there are two main components for each RACHprocedure described herein: signaling for the 4-step or the 2-step RACHprocedure; how to use the one or more alternative beams that areindicated by the mobile device 104 to the BS device 102 or network.

Turning first to FIGS. 3 and 4, FIG. 3 illustrates an example,non-limiting block diagram of a control device facilitating signalingand transmission protocols associated with enhanced beam management canbe facilitated in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. FIG. 4 illustrates an example, non-limiting block diagram of amobile device for which signaling and transmission protocols associatedwith enhanced beam management can be facilitated in accordance with oneor more embodiments described herein. Repetitive description of likeelements employed in other embodiments described herein is omitted forsake of brevity.

Control device 300 can be or be included in BS device 102 (or anothernetwork device) in some embodiments. Control device 300 can comprise acommunication component 302, synchronization signal component 304, beamswitching component 306, signaling component 305, transmission diversitycomponent 307, memory 308 and/or processor 310. In one or moreembodiments, one or more of communication component 302, synchronizationsignal component 304, beam switching component 306, signaling component305, transmission diversity component 307, memory 308 and/or processor310 can be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to one another toperform one or more functions of the control device 300 (and/or the BSdevice 102).

Mobile device 102 can comprise communication component 402, beamselection component 404, alternative beam selection component 406,report generation component 408, mobile device signaling component 405,mobile device diversity reception component 407, memory 410 and/orprocessor 412. In various embodiments, one or more of the comprisecommunication component 402, beam selection component 404, alternativebeam selection component 406, report generation component 408, mobiledevice signaling component 405, mobile device diversity receptioncomponent 407, memory 410 and/or processor 412 can be electricallyand/or communicatively coupled to one another to perform one or morefunctions of mobile device 102.

The communication component 402 of the mobile device 104 can receive oneor more messages (messages described with reference to systems 100, 200and/or 300) from the communication component 302 of one or more BSdevices (e.g., BS device 104) and/or network devices. In someembodiments, during the synchronization stage in which the mobile device104 and BS device 102 are synchronizing, the synchronization signalcomponent 304 of the BS device 102 can generate one or more DL beamsand/or synchronization information for transmission to the mobile device104.

In some embodiments, the communication component 402 can receive and/ortransmit one or DL and/or UL beams from and/or to the communicationcomponent 302 during random access, synchronization with the BS device102 or the like.

During synchronization between the mobile device 104 and the BS device102, the mobile device 104 beam selection component 404 and/or thealternative beam selection component 406 can detect and/or receiveand/or process one or more DL beams to determine the signal strengthand/or the power of the received DL beam. The beam selection component404 can select a first beam for DL transmission from the BS device 102to the mobile device. The alternative beam selection component 406 candetect and/or receive and/or process one or more DL beams and select oneor more of the received DL beams as an alternative beam to use for DLtransmission from the BS device 102. The report generation component 408of the mobile device 104 can generate a report identifying the firstbeam to use and/or the alternative beam to use. While the embodimentsmay use the term “first” relative to “first beam,” in some embodiments,the BS device 102 can initially use the alternative beam and switch tothe “first” beam if the received signal strength and/or power at themobile device 104 is not satisfactory (as opposed to the converse ofstarting with the “first” beam and switching to the alternative beam).All such embodiments are envisaged.

Based on a determination by the BS device 102 and/or receipt ofinformation indicating the signal strength and/or received power of theinitial beam employed on the DL from the BS device 102 to the mobiledevice 104 is not satisfactory (or has a signal strength or receivedpower at the mobile device 104 that is less than a defined acceptablethreshold), in some embodiments, the beam switching component 306 of theBS device 102 can switch to the alternative from the first beam (or fromthe alternative to the “first” beam as indicated above).

The memory 410 can store instructions that can be executed by processor412 to select one or more DL beams (e.g., initial/first beams and/oralternative beams), provide a report in message 3 of system 100, detectand/or measure the signal strength and/or power of the DL beams or thelike. The memory 308 can store instructions that can be executed byprocessor 510 to receive information for selection of one or more DLbeams (e.g., initial/first beams and/or alternative beams), transmitover such selected beams, perform switching to an alternative beam or aninitial/first beam from the alternative beam, estimate or processinformation or notifications regarding the signal strength and/or powerof the DL beams or the like.

In some embodiments, to support the transmission of one or morealternative DL Tx beams in message 3 of the 4-step RACH procedure, twooptions can be available.

The first option is for the BS device 102 and/or network to use the samemessage 3 content types normally transmitted in the 4-step RACHprocedure (or in the message 2 content types normally transmitted in the2-step RACH procedure), without any associated signaling about thepresence of an alternative beam indication by the mobile device 104. TheBS device 102 in this embodiment can decode message 3 content of the4-step RACH procedure (or message 2 content of the 2-step RACHprocedure) with no associated signaling from the mobile device 104 andcan detect the presence or lack thereof of an alternative DL Tx beamreporting by the mobile device 102.

The second option is to introduce a certain associated signaling from BSdevice 102 or network to the mobile device 104. For example, the BSdevice 102 or network can signal to the mobile device 104 to indicateone or more alternative beams. For example, the signaling can bereceived at mobile device signaling component 405 of mobile device 104from signaling component 305 of control device 300 and/or BS device 102.Such associated signaling received by the mobile device 104 can indicateto the mobile device 104 whether or not to send information indicatingthe one or more alternative DL Tx beams in message 3 payload of the4-step RACH procedure (or message 1 payload of the 2-step RACHprocedure). This, in turn, can allow the signaling component 305 of thecontrol device 300 and/or BS device 102 to properly receive, demodulateand/or decode the information identifying the one or more alternative DLTx beams sent in the message 3 payload of the 4-step RACH procedure (orthe message 1 payload of the 2-step RACH procedure).

One way to send signaling from the signaling component 305 of thecontrol device 300 and/or the BS device 102 is to transmit informationto the mobile device signaling component 405 of the mobile device 104commanding the mobile device 104 to send information about one or morealternative beams using system information (SI).

In one or more embodiments, SI can be information that is broadcasted bythe control device 300, BS device 102 and/or network and that isreceived by one or more mobile devices in order for the one or moremobile devices to be able to access and in general operate properlywithin the network associated with the control device 300 and/or BSdevice 102 and within the cell. The SI can include, among other things,information about the DL cell bandwidth, UL cell bandwidth, detailedparameters related to random access transmission, and so on.

In some embodiments, SI can be delivered either by Master InformationBlock (MIB) containing only essential system information, or throughSystem Information Blocks (SIBs), which can include the main part of thesystem information, and can be transmitted using the downlink sharedchannel (DLSCH).

There are a number of different SIBs that can be defined, depending onthe type of information that is included within the SIBs. Some SI isqualified as minimum system information, and is typically included inthe MIB/SIBs (e.g., cell camping parameters, RACH parameters, etc.).Other system information can only be relevant to certain networks ormobile devices, and need not be broadcasted all the time. The schedulinginformation about the other SIBs is included in the minimum SI. FirstSIB indicates for example the time frequency resources and schedulinginformation about the remaining SIBs. In some embodiments, the SIBalready signals the RACH procedure information and can therefore beemployed to also indicate one or more alternative beams. Anotherapproach is dedicated signaling to the mobile device 104.

For the purposes of signaling the presence or the lack thereof of thealternative DL Tx beam indication in message 3 of the 4-step RACHprocedure (or message 1 of the 2-step RACH procedure), SI can beincluded in the SIB s and received by the mobile device 104. This SI canbe, for example, included in the same SIB that contains informationabout random access parameters. The signaling about message 3 of the4-step RACH procedure (or message 1 of the 2-step RACH procedure),transmitted in SI, in a given SIB, can indicate the format of message 3sequence of the 4-step RACH procedure (or message 1 of the 2-step RACHprocedure), and whether the mobile device 104 should report on analternative DL Tx beam (s) in the message 3 payload of the 4-step RACHprocedure (or in the message 1 payload of the 2-step RACH procedure).

If the network is deployed as non-standalone using dual connectivity(e.g., if a 5G system is employed as non-standalone using dualconnectivity between LTE and 5G, where LTE acts as the master node), theRACH configuration can be provided by broadcast or dedicated (e.g. RRC)signaling to the mobile device 104, including the indication of whetheralternative DL Tx beam(s) reporting is supported in message 3 of the4-step RACH procedure (or message 1 of the 2-step RACH procedure).

In addition, it is noted that the reporting of the one or morealternative DL Tx beams can be from the set of all detected SS-Blocks bythe mobile device 104 or can be from a subset of SS-Blocks if such anassociation between DL and UL resources is provided in the RACHconfiguration indicated by broadcast or higher layer signaling.

In one or more embodiments, transmission diversity using the one or morealternative DL Tx beams can be employed by the transmission diversitycomponent 307 of the BS device 102, control device 300 and/or networkand the mobile device diversity reception component 407 of the mobiledevice 102.

When the one or more alternative DL Tx beams are indicated in message 3of the 4-step RACH procedure (or message 1 of the 2-step RACHprocedure), and successfully received at the BS device 102, controldevice 300 and/or the network, the BS device 102 and/or control device300 can make use of the additional (e.g., the beam indicated as analternative) DL Tx beam for DL transmission to the mobile device 104 inmessage 4 of the 4-step RACH procedure (or message 2 of the 2-step RACHprocedure), as well as subsequent connected mode DL transmissions.

There are a number of embodiments by which the BS device 102, controldevice 300 and/or network can make use of the one or more alternative DLTx beams. In one embodiment, when message 3 of the 4-step RACH procedure(or message 1 of the 2-step RACH procedure) is successfully decoded, theBS device 102 and/or control device 300 has access to at least two beamsto use for DL transmission (the primary (e.g., original or initial) beamindicated by the mobile device 104 as well as at least one alternativebeam indicated by the mobile device 104). The BS device 102 and/orcontrol device 300 can hence implement diversity protocols using themultitude of beams.

In one embodiment, the diversity protocol can include the transmissiondiversity component 407 of the BS device 102 or the control device 300transmitting using an alternative DL Tx beam, in lieu of the original DLTx beam used for transmission in message 2 of the 4-step RACH procedure(the original DL Tx beam used for transmission in message 2 of the2-step RACH procedure).

In one embodiment, the diversity protocol can include the transmissiondiversity component 407 of the BS device 102 or the control device 300keeping the transmission on the original DL Tx beam used for message 2in the 4-step RACH procedure (or keeping the transmission on theoriginal DL Tx beam used for message 2 of the 2-step RACH procedure).The mobile device diversity reception component 407 can determinewhether diversity is employed and/or determine how to configure themobile device for appropriate reception of the beam transmitted.

In one embodiment, the diversity protocol can include the transmissiondiversity component 407 of the BS device 102 or the control device 300transmitting using both the original and an alternative DL Tx beam, suchthat the same transmission is carried on two or more downlink Tx beams.The mobile device diversity reception component 407 can determinewhether diversity is employed and/or determine how to configure themobile device for appropriate reception of the original and alternativebeams transmitted.

In one embodiment, the diversity protocol can include the transmissiondiversity component 407 of the BS device 102 or the control device 300combining two or more identified DL Tx beams into one wider beam, andusing the wider beam for DL transmission. The mobile device diversityreception component 407 can determine whether diversity is employedand/or determine how to configure the mobile device for appropriatereception of the wider beam transmitted.

This increased diversity helps improve the robustness in the randomaccess procedure as well as subsequent DL transmissions whereas BSdevice 102 uses the DL Tx beams identified during the initial accessprocedure to carry out control information, for example, for connectedmobile devices.

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 illustrate flowcharts of methods facilitatingsignaling and transmission protocols associated with enhanced beammanagement in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

Turning first to FIG. 5, at 502, method 500 can comprise receiving, by abase station device comprising a processor from a mobile device, amessage indicating first beam information for a selected first beam ofbeams associated with the base station device and indicating second beaminformation for a selected second beam of the beams associated with thebase station device, wherein the selected second beam is an alternativeto the selected first beam for transmission of downlink data to themobile device from the base station device, wherein receiving themessage comprises receiving the message as a first message of amulti-step random access channel procedure, wherein the first messagecomprises a random access preamble and further comprises a deviceidentification message. In some embodiments, the multi-step randomaccess channel procedure is a two-step random access channel procedure.

At 504, method 500 can comprise in response to the receiving the beaminformation, facilitating transmitting, by the base station device tothe mobile device, a random access channel response as a second messageof the two step random access channel procedure.

Turning to FIG. 6, method 600 can comprise 502 and 504 of method 500. At602, method 600 can also comprise combining, by the base station device,the selected first beam and the selected second beam into a third beam,wherein the third beam is wider than the selected first beam and theselected second beam, facilitating transmitting, by the base stationdevice to the mobile device, a second message of a two step randomaccess channel procedure and user data, via the third beam. In someembodiments, the facilitating transmitting can be facilitatingtransmitting, by the base station device to the mobile device, message 4of the 4-step RACH procedure (message 2 of the 2-step RACH procedure)and subsequent user data/control, via the third beam.

Turning now to FIG. 7, at 702, method 700 can comprise facilitatingtransmitting a message indicating first beam information for a selectedfirst beam of beams associated with a base station device, wherein themessage is a message of a random access channel procedure. At 704,method 700 can comprise facilitating transmitting a second messageindicating second beam information for a selected second beam of thebeams associated with the base station device, wherein the selectedsecond beam is an alternative to the selected first beam fortransmission of downlink data to the mobile device from the base stationdevice, and wherein the second message is another transmitted message ofthe random access channel procedure.

In some embodiments, although not shown, the method 700 can comprise,prior to the prior to the facilitating transmitting the messageindicating the first beam information and the second beam information,receiving signaling from the base station device comprising a command tothe mobile device to transmit to the base station device informationabout an alternative beam, and wherein the signaling is receivedemploying system information comprising a random access channelparameter.

In some embodiments, the system information is included in a systeminformation block comprising random access parameter information andtransmitted from the base station device using the downlink sharedchannel. In some embodiments, the system information indicates a formatof the message of the random access channel procedure and whether themobile device is to be instructed to transmit an identifier for thealternative beam.

In various embodiments, the method 900 can include, but is not limitedto: receiving, from the base station device, data comprising at leastone of: receiving the data via the selected second beam instead of theselected first beam, receiving the data such that a same content of thedata is transmitted on the selected first beam and the selected secondbeam, or receiving the data on a third beam, wherein the third beam is acombination of the selected first beam and the selected second beam andis wider than the selected first beam and the selected second beam.

In some embodiments, the method can comprise employing the selectedsecond beam instead of the selected first beam, facilitatingtransmitting, by the base station device to the mobile device, message 4of the 4-step RACH procedure (message 2 of the 2-step RACH procedure)and subsequent user control/data; wherein the facilitating thetransmitting of the message 4 (message 2) and/or user data comprisesfacilitating the transmitting of a same content of the user on both theselected first beam and the selected second beam; and/or combining, bythe base station device, the selected first beam and the selected secondbeam into a third beam, wherein the third beam is wider than theselected first beam and the selected second beam, and facilitatingtransmitting, by the base station device to the mobile device, message 4(message 2) and/or user data/control, via the third beam.

In some embodiments, the signaling is transmitted as a dedicated signalfrom the base station device to the mobile device in lieu of a broadcastsignal from the base station device. In some embodiments, the systeminformation is included in a system information block containing randomaccess parameter information and transmitted using the downlink sharedchannel. In some embodiments, the system information indicates a formatof the third message of the 4-step RACH procedure or first message ofthe two-step random access channel procedure and whether the mobiledevice should report the one or more alternative beams.

Turning now to FIG. 8, method 800 can comprise 702 and 704 of method700. Further, method 800 can comprise, at 802, receiving, from the basestation device, data comprising at least one of: receiving the data viathe selected second beam instead of the selected first beam, receivingthe data such that a same content of the data is transmitted on theselected first beam and the selected second beam, or receiving the dataon a third beam, wherein the third beam is a combination of the selectedfirst beam and the selected second beam and is wider than the selectedfirst beam and the selected second beam.

Turning now to FIG. 9, at 902, method 900 can comprise receiving, from amobile device, a message indicating first beam information for aselected first beam of beams associated with the base station device,wherein the message is a first received message of a random accesschannel procedure.

At 904, method 900 can comprise receiving, from the mobile device, asecond message indicating second beam information for a selected secondbeam of the beams associated with the base station device, wherein theselected second beam is an alternative to the selected first beam fortransmission of downlink data to the mobile device from the base stationdevice, and wherein the second message is another transmitted message ofthe random access channel procedure. In some embodiments, the secondbeam is in message 3 of the 4-step random access channel procedure, andmessage 1 (step 1) of the two-step RACH procedure.

In some embodiments, although not shown, method 900 can comprise, priorto the receiving second message indicating the second beam information,transmitting signaling to the mobile device comprising a command to themobile device to transmit to the base station device information aboutan alternative beam, wherein the transmitting the signaling istransmitted employing system information, wherein the system informationis employed to convey system information blocks comprising random accessparameters to the mobile device.

In some embodiments, although not shown, method 900 can comprisetransmitting data to the mobile device, wherein the transmittingcomprises transmitting the data employing the selected second beaminstead of the selected first beam.

In some embodiments, although not shown, method 900 can comprisetransmitting data to the mobile device, wherein the transmittingcomprises transmitting the data employing the selected first beam andthe selected second beam with a result that a same content of the datais transmitted on the selected first beam and the selected second beam.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a computer that can be employedin accordance with one or more embodiments. Repetitive description oflike elements employed in other embodiments described herein is omittedfor sake of brevity. In some embodiments, the computer, or a componentof the computer, can be or be comprised within any number of componentsdescribed herein comprising, but not limited to, base station device 102or mobile device 104 (or a component of base station device 102 ormobile device 104).

In order to provide additional text for various embodiments describedherein, FIG. 10 and the following discussion are intended to provide abrief, general description of a suitable computing environment 1000 inwhich the various embodiments of the embodiment described herein can beimplemented. While the embodiments have been described above in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions that can run on oneor more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that theembodiments can be also implemented in combination with other programmodules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage media and/orcommunications media, which two terms are used herein differently fromone another as follows. Computer-readable (or machine-readable) storagemedia can be any available storage media that can be accessed by thecomputer (or a machine, device or apparatus) and comprises both volatileand nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way ofexample, and not limitation, computer-readable (or machine-readable)storage media can be implemented in connection with any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readable (ormachine-readable) instructions, program modules, structured data orunstructured data. Tangible and/or non-transitory computer-readable (ormachine-readable) storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devicesand/or other media that can be used to store desired information.Computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage media can be accessed byone or more local or remote computing devices, e.g., via accessrequests, queries or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety ofoperations with respect to the information stored by the medium.

In this regard, the term “tangible” herein as applied to storage, memoryor computer-readable (or machine-readable) media, is to be understood toexclude only propagating intangible signals per se as a modifier anddoes not relinquish coverage of all standard storage, memory orcomputer-readable (or machine-readable) media that are not onlypropagating intangible signals per se.

In this regard, the term “non-transitory” herein as applied to storage,memory or computer-readable (or machine-readable) media, is to beunderstood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se as amodifier and does not relinquish coverage of all standard storage,memory or computer-readable (or machine-readable) media that are notonly propagating transitory signals per se.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable (ormachine-readable) instructions, data structures, program modules orother structured or unstructured data in a data signal such as amodulated data signal, e.g., a channel wave or other transportmechanism, and comprises any information delivery or transport media.The term “modulated data signal” or signals refers to a signal that hasone or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and notlimitation, communication media comprise wired media, such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic,RF, infrared and other wireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 10, the example environment 1000 forimplementing various embodiments of the embodiments described hereincomprises a computer 1002, the computer 1002 comprising a processingunit 1004, a system memory 1006 and a system bus 1008. The system bus1008 couples system components comprising, but not limited to, thesystem memory 1006 to the processing unit 1004. The processing unit 1004can be any of various commercially available processors. Dualmicroprocessors and other multi-processor architectures can also beemployed as the processing unit 1004.

The system bus 1008 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1006comprises ROM 1010 and RAM 1012. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer1002, such as during startup. The RAM 1012 can also comprise ahigh-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1002 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1010 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 1014 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive 1016, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 1018) and an optical disk drive 1020, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 1022 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 1014, magnetic diskdrive 1016 and optical disk drive 1020 can be connected to the systembus 1008 by a hard disk drive interface 1024, a magnetic disk driveinterface 1026 and an optical drive interface, respectively. Theinterface 1024 for external drive implementations comprises at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other externaldrive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable (or machine-readable)storage media provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures,computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For the computer 1002,the drives and storage media accommodate the storage of any data in asuitable digital format. Although the description of computer-readable(or machine-readable) storage media above refers to a hard disk drive(HDD), a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media suchas a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat other types of storage media which are readable by a computer, suchas zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, andthe like, can also be used in the example operating environment, andfurther, that any such storage media can contain computer-executableinstructions for performing the methods described herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1012,comprising an operating system 1030, one or more application programs1032, other program modules 1034 and program data 1036. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1012. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

A communication device can enter commands and information into thecomputer 1002 through one or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., akeyboard 1038 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1040. Other inputdevices (not shown) can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remotecontrol, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like.These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit1004 through an input device interface 1042 that can be coupled to thesystem bus 1008, but can be connected by other interfaces, such as aparallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serialbus (USB) port, an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 1044 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 1008 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1046. Inaddition to the monitor 1044, a computer typically comprises otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1002 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1048. The remotecomputer(s) 1048 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1002, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1050 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprisewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1052 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 1054. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1002 can beconnected to the local network 1052 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1056. The adapter 1056 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1052, which canalso comprise a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless adapter 1056.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1002 cancomprise a modem 1058 or can be connected to a communications server onthe WAN 1054 or has other means for establishing communications over theWAN 1054, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1058, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, can be connected tothe system bus 1008 via the input device interface 1042. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1002 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1050. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1002 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a defined structure as with a conventional networkor simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a femto cell device. Wi-Fi networks useradio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11 Mbps (802.11a) or54 Mbps (802.11b) data rate, for example or with products that containboth bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-worldperformance similar to the basic 10 Base T wired Ethernet networks usedin many offices.

The embodiments described herein can employ artificial intelligence (AI)to facilitate automating one or more features described herein. Theembodiments (e.g., in connection with automatically identifying acquiredcell sites that provide a maximum value/benefit after addition to anexisting communication network) can employ various AI-based protocolsfor carrying out various embodiments thereof. Moreover, the classifiercan be employed to determine a ranking or priority of each cell site ofan acquired network. A classifier is a function that maps an inputattribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, . . . , xn), to a confidence thatthe input belongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Suchclassification can employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-basedanalysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) toprognose or infer an action that a communication device desires to beautomatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example ofa classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates by finding ahypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which the hypersurfaceattempts to split the triggering criteria from the non-triggeringevents. Intuitively, this makes the classification correct for testingdata that is near, but not identical to training data. Other directedand undirected model classification approaches comprise, e.g., naïveBayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logicmodels, and probabilistic classification models providing differentpatterns of independence can be employed. Classification as used hereinalso is inclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to developmodels of priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observingcommunication device behavior, operator preferences, historicalinformation, receiving extrinsic information). For example, SVMs can beconfigured via a learning or training phase within a classifierconstructor and feature selection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can beused to automatically learn and perform a number of functions,comprising but not limited to determining according to a predeterminedcriterion which of the acquired cell sites will benefit a maximum numberof subscribers and/or which of the acquired cell sites will add minimumvalue to the existing communication network coverage, etc.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of communication device equipment. Aprocessor can also be implemented as a combination of computingprocessing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” “database,” andsubstantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable (or machine-readable) storage media, described hereincan be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory or can comprise bothvolatile and nonvolatile memory.

Memory disclosed herein can comprise volatile memory or nonvolatilememory or can comprise both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can comprise readonly memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmableROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) or flash memory.Volatile memory can comprise random access memory (RAM), which acts asexternal cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM isavailable in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).The memory (e.g., data storages, databases) of the embodiments areintended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any othersuitable types of memory.

What has been described above comprises mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term“comprises” is used in either the detailed description or the claims,such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as atransitional word in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a basestation device comprising a processor from a mobile device, a messageindicating first beam information for a selected first beam of beamsassociated with the base station device and indicating second beaminformation for a selected second beam of the beams, wherein theselected second beam is an alternative to the selected first beam fortransmission of downlink data to the mobile device from the base stationdevice; and in response to the receiving the first beam information,facilitating, by the base station device, transmitting, to the mobiledevice, a random access channel response as a second message of a twostep random access channel procedure.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, prior to the receiving the message indicating the first beaminformation and the second beam information, facilitating, by the basestation device, transmitting, to the mobile device, a signal comprisinga command to the mobile device to transmit, to the base station device,information about an alternative beam that is to be the alternative tothe selected first beam, and wherein the facilitating the transmittingof the signal comprises employing system information of the base stationdevice.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the facilitating thetransmitting of the signal comprises facilitating the transmitting of adedicated signal, to the mobile device, in lieu of a broadcast signal,and wherein the dedicated signal comprises the system information fromthe base station device.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the systeminformation is included in a system information block comprising randomaccess parameter information and transmitted using a downlink sharedchannel.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the system informationindicates a format of the first message of the two step random accesschannel procedure and whether the mobile device is to report anidentification of the alternative beam to the base station device. 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: employing, by the basestation device, the selected second beam instead of the selected firstbeam; and facilitating, by the base station device, transmitting, to themobile device, the second message of the two step random access channelprocedure and user data.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:facilitating, by the base station device, transmitting, to the mobiledevice, the second message of the two step random access channelprocedure and user data, wherein the facilitating the transmitting ofthe second message and the user data comprises facilitating thetransmitting of a same content of the user data via the selected firstbeam and the selected second beam.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: combining, by the base station device, the selected firstbeam and the selected second beam into a third beam, wherein the thirdbeam is wider than the selected first beam and the selected second beam;and facilitating, by the base station device, transmitting, to themobile device, the second message of the two step random access channelprocedure and user data, via the third beam.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the first beam information is indicated by a random accesspreamble.
 10. A base station device, comprising: a processor; and amemory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: receiving,from a mobile device, a first message indicating first beam informationfor a selected first beam of beams associated with the base stationdevice, wherein the first message is a first message of a random accesschannel procedure that is received by the base station device, andwherein the random access channel procedure is employed to facilitate atransfer of the mobile device from an idle state to a connected state;and receiving, from the mobile device, a second message indicatingsecond beam information for a selected second beam of the beamsassociated with the base station device.
 11. The base station device ofclaim 10, wherein the operations further comprise, prior to thereceiving the second message indicating the second beam information,signaling to the mobile device comprising signaling a command to themobile device to transmit information to the base station device aboutan alternative beam, wherein the signaling employs system information,and wherein the system information is employed to convey systeminformation blocks comprising random access parameters to the mobiledevice.
 12. The base station device of claim 11, wherein the signalingcomprises signaling system information of a system information block ora master information block indicating a format of the second messageindicating the selected second beam and further indicating whether themobile device is to generate a report identifying the alternative beam.13. The base station device of claim 10, wherein the operations furthercomprise: transmitting data to the mobile device, and wherein thetransmitting the data comprises transmitting the data employing theselected second beam instead of the selected first beam.
 14. The basestation device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:transmitting data to the mobile device, and wherein the transmitting thedata comprises transmitting the data employing the selected first beamand the selected second beam with a result that a same content of thedata is transmitted on the selected first beam and the selected secondbeam.
 15. The base station device of claim 10, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: combining the selected first beam and the selectedsecond beam into a third beam; and transmitting data to the mobiledevice, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting the dataemploying the third beam.
 16. A non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by aprocessor of a mobile device, facilitate performance of operations,comprising: facilitating transmitting a first message indicating firstbeam information for a selected first beam of beams associated with abase station device, wherein the first message is part of a randomaccess channel procedure; facilitating transmitting a second messageindicating second beam information for a selected second beam of thebeams associated with the base station device, wherein the selectedsecond beam is an alternative to the selected first beam fortransmission of downlink data to the mobile device from the base stationdevice; and receiving, from the base station device, data comprising atleast one of: receiving the data via the selected second beam instead ofthe selected first beam, receiving the data resulting in a same contentof the data being transmitted via the selected first beam and theselected second beam, or receiving the data on a third beam.
 17. Themachine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operationsfurther comprise, prior to the facilitating the transmitting of thefirst message indicating the first beam information and the second beaminformation, receiving signaling from the base station device comprisingreceiving a command to the mobile device to transmit to the base stationdevice information about an alternative beam.
 18. The machine-readablestorage medium of claim 17, wherein system information is included in asystem information block comprising random access parameter information.19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein systeminformation indicates a format of the first message of the random accesschannel procedure.
 20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 18,wherein the system information is transmitted from the base stationdevice using a shared downlink channel.